Dan made it to Rosslyn without much trouble. The soldiers on both sides were too focused on their battle around the Capitol to spare one individual running through the night much of a second thought. Once he left Washington DC, it only took him about fifteen minutes to find the park. Then it was a matter of waiting and trying to quell his anxiety as the sounds of gunfire and explosions reached out to him despite his distance from the fight. He hadn’t gotten a good read on how many soldiers the CHT brought to the fight, but the battle looked well in hand when he left.
He sighed and picked up a twig from the ground, worrying at it as he snapped it repeatedly between his fingers. Jennifer knew what she was doing, and with any luck, she would be able to make it out of the city safely. Of course, he didn’t know what they were going to do then. The Thoth Foundation was involved in whatever was happening, so returning to their compound to use the teleportation pad was probably out of the picture, even if the station would actually turn their beacon on.
Worse, as much as humanity needed to be united in the face of the extrasolar threats, Dan didn’t think that Ibis should be the one to do it. The old man had the vision to protect humanity, but his willingness to enforce that vision through violations of his allies’ very psyches worried Dan. Of course, that was when there still was an independent government to serve as a check on his excesses. Who knew what Ibis would slip into the System if he was injecting people with it today?
Dan shook his head in the darkness, dropping the stick. There was no way that he could trust Ibis with that power. Honestly, he wasn’t sure that Henry ruling the world through nanites would be any different, let alone better, than the way the elves’ oppressed the other races of the Tellask Empire.
That said, he didn’t have any idea how to stop the Thoth foundation. It looked like they were about to take over America, and by the reactions of the rest of the world, there wouldn’t be any sort of organized resistance once they seized power. Hell, the CHT probably already had a full cabinet worth of corrupt politicians lined up and ready to take charge on their behalf in the name of promoting public order. He kicked a clump of dirt. That was a problem for another day. Maybe William had an idea. Theoretically, he probably should know enough people affiliated with the army to put together some sort of counterweight against the incoming totalitarian regime. Theoretically.
A crunch of a boot against asphalt shocked Dan into action. Before he recognized Jennifer and a limping William, his spellshield was active and his sword was in his hand. He sheathed his sword as the two of them walked past him, and William slumped down on a nearby park bench. Jennifer bent down and began fiddling with some of the bandages wrapped around her father’s thigh. A second later, she discarded them, covered in blood, and began working from a first aid kit to replace them.
‘What’s the matter, kid?’ William’s voice was tight with pain. ‘Never seen a bullet wound before? We got out without too much trouble, but I managed to catch a ricochet. Nothing I can’t cure with some bandages and bourbon.’
Dan ignored the cantankerous old man and approached Jennifer from behind, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. ‘How’s he doing?’ he whispered as she furiously worked on the injured leg. ‘I can cauterize the wound if you need it. More importantly, do you think he’ll be able to run if we need to get out of here in a hurry?’
‘No,’ her voice was emotionless as she continued working. ‘I’m not a doctor, but he should be fine given a little rest. That said, the bullet did a number on his thigh. We’re lucky no one tried to pursue us out of DC, or things might have gone a lot rougher. He’s able to walk, after a fashion, but I’d still prefer a crutch or a litter for him if we could find a way to make it happen.’
‘We might be able to loot something from a nearby building.’ Dan nodded toward the structures surrounding the park. ‘They’re probably mostly abandoned. I don’t know how quickly we’ll be able to find something to help his mobility, but it might be better than forcing him to walk to the Capital’s outskirts on foot.’
‘I can hear both of you,’ William growled as he shifted on the bench. ‘I’m not some sort of invalid that I can’t walk out of here under my own power. I finished an entire firefight in Vietnam with two bullets in my chest and made it to evac on my own without a single problem. If you think I’m gonna let something like this ricochet slow me down, you’ve both got another thing coming.’
‘Daddy,’ Jennifer cut him off as Dan stared at the older man blankly. ‘If you really think I’m going to let you risk bleeding out due to some sense of stubborn and misplaced pride, you have another thing coming. Specifically, my fist. I will literally knock you out and carry you rather than let you do something as dumb as walk on an actively bleeding wound.”
‘I could give him a piggyback ride,’ Dan offered unhappily. ‘I have a spell that can reduce my weight and the weight of anything I’m carrying. Combine that with my runes, and if he could manage to sit still, I could probably make pretty good time with him on my back.’
‘I will not sit still!‘ William roared, his eyes frantic. ‘If you want to get me a crutch, that’s fine, but I’m not letting this traitor carry me around like I’m a child!’
‘Your call.’ Dan tried to keep a straight face as he spoke to Jennifer, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.
Before Jennifer could respond, the General’s phone chimed. Frowning, she leaned down and pulled it out of the grumbling old man’s pocket
A second later, her face was illuminated by its harsh light as she fiddled with the screen. Then the sound of trumpets playing ‘Hail to the Chief’ filled the park, startling Jennifer to the point that she almost dropped the phone. Dan walked around behind her and glanced over her shoulder. Pictured was a simple black screen with the Thoth Foundation logo on it overlaid with the words “Important Message Forthcoming, Please Wait.”
Dan glanced at Jennifer, worry creasing his face. The fact that the Thoth Foundation could directly send messages to private cellphones was both unsurprising and deeply worrying. She shrugged wordlessly as the music continued, the light from her phone a beacon in the otherwise dark night.
The black screen faded to reveal Henry Ibis standing at a podium. On the podium was the bird and scroll of the Thoth Foundation, and behind him hung two banners. The first said “One People, United,” and the other read “Coalition for Human Transcendence.” With some concern, Dan noted that the banners were trying and failing to cover up bullet holes marking the wall behind him.
‘Friends and countrymen,’ Ibis spoke in a solemn voice, betrayed by the mad glint in his eyes. ‘It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the abdication of President Stephens. It is never easy for a patriot to do what their people need of them, and I am no different. You see, my friends, I am a true patriot. Loyal not just to these glorious United States, but to the spirit of humanity that dwells deep within the soul of every man, woman, and child that was born on this Earth.’
‘Shit.’ Dan spoke tonelessly as Ibis continued his speech.
‘My philanthropic organization, the Thoth Foundation, has fought hard to preserve these ideals.’ Henry waved his right hand expansively as the camera panned back to reveal four power suits, pocked by bullets and charred by explosions, standing guard around him. ‘President Stephens and elements of our government have been working with the aliens from the start. They sought not to elevate our people to the next level of prosperity and power, but to enslave our people and offer them up as tribute to the invaders. I know that this is tough for many of you to understand or believe, but their nefarious misdeeds were brought to light by the most unlikely of sources. One of the aliens was captured, and under promise of good treatment, she revealed their plans to us.
‘Of course,’ Ibis shook his head sadly, ‘once President Stephens found out that we had one of the aliens prisoner, he sought to silence us. He knew that, once the news of his crimes spread to the general populace, it would only be a matter of time before America rose up against him. That is why he ordered my arrest, as well as that of one of my employees, Daniel Thrush.’
‘Shitshitshitshit,’ Dan began muttering the expletives to himself as he paced nervously back and forth.
‘Together,’ Ibis shook his head sadly before making eye contact with the camera. ‘Daniel and I sought to make a new and better world for all of us. Daniel was a pioneer, leading research into magic that the establishment was too blind or cowardly to even admit existed. He jumped into the unknown and battled fearsome beasts on all of our behalf, humanity’s very own Prometheus.
“Like the Prometheus of old, Daniel Thrush sought to return to Earth with the secrets of fire.” Dan shook his head, muttering nervously to himself as Ibis continued speaking. “As soon as he learned that magic existed, he traveled to an alien world to bring its power back for our use.”
‘America,’ the gleam was back in Henry’s eyes as he gave the camera a conspiratorial look. ‘He succeeded. Without him, Earth would not have had the magic we needed to fight back against the invaders. Without him, we would have been naked and toothless in the face of the storm that is the Tellask Empire. You’ve all seen the footage. A warrior wielding a purple sword as he struck down the enemies of our people. Despite this, our corrupt government refused to say his name. This is the work of Daniel Thrush.’
Ibis disappeared. In his place was the footage of Dan fighting the war lizard. Dan groaned as he watched his flamboyant use of magic, the fire spilling across the titanic creature’s head. The video ran for just shy of a minute before Henry reappeared at the podium. Standing next to him was Merella Amberell, the elf he had captured for the army in the Amazon. Dan’s blood ran cold. The elf’s hands were in cuffs, but having fought her, Dan knew just how little of an impediment that was. The woman was capable of snapping them like a plastic toy and engulfing the room in flames in under a second. Really, the only thing stopping her was the nanites in her body, threatening her with pain, incapacitation, or death.
‘Standing beside me is the alien that so bravely stepped forward and revealed President Stephen’s treachery.’ He stepped back from the podium and motioned Merella forward.
The elf looked at the microphone in disgust before leaning forward and speaking into it in a clipped and robotic tenor. Dan wasn’t sure if her neutral tone came from the System’s translation, control, or a much more natural disinterest with Ibis’ petty schemes.
‘I was in contact with Leader Stephens.” The words came out woodenly, rehearsed. “He agreed to make his nation a vassal state of the Tellask Empire in exchange for great personal wealth. He was planning to betray you all.’ She stepped back from the microphone, rolling her eyes as Ibis took her place.
‘They killed Daniel.’ Ibis’ eyes burned as he stared into the camera. ‘The government knew that all of humanity was capable of learning magic and with the power of magic their hold over us would be broken. With the power of the invaders, they sought to keep us in shackles to them.’
‘Now,’ Henry pulled out a glittering crystal from the breast pocket of his suit. ‘Today before you all, I will follow in Daniel’s footsteps. I will consume a mana crystal and gain the powers of magic that your government sought to keep from you.’
Dan’s eyes grew wide as Henry put the crystal into his mouth on camera. Behind the elderly man, Merella tried to maintain a straight face. For a second, nothing happened. Then Henry slumped forward, grabbing the podium. He looked up to the camera.
‘I can,’ Ibis paused, eyes watering. ‘I can feel it working. The power of the very cosmos themselves is welling up inside me. Soon, I will be able to bend the very fabric of reality, and I will be able to lead this lost and misguided world into a new age. An age where we can all become something greater, more than human!’
His shouting faded into a series of sharp coughs. Dan noticed blood spattering the podium. Then, Ibis simply started on fire. Every inch of his body erupted into flames simultaneously as Merella was wracked with mad laughter behind him. The old man began screaming. Dan looked away from the screen, unable to stomach the feed any longer.
A moment later, the screen went black as someone finally silenced the camera.
